Antifungal Susceptibility Patterns of Aspergillus species isolated from patients with Pulmonary diseases in Iraq

Aspergillus infections are among the most feared opportunistic infections in humans because they are capable of causing several distinct pulmonary diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Aspergillus species in patients with pulmonary pneumonia and susceptibility testing to the most commonly used antifungal agents. A total of 311 specimens were collected from patients presented with the pulmonary complaint. Out of which, 139 (44.6%) yielded Aspergillus growth. Aspergillus isolates were obtained from Bronchoalveolar lavage and sputum. Ten species of Aspergillus were identified, A. flavus, A. niger, and A. terreus were the most frequently isolated species. Antifungal susceptibility of 10 different Aspergillus spp. isolates were performed using E-test. Voriconazole and caspofungin were having full inhibitory activity (100%) against tested Aspergillus spp., while some resistance was observed against itraconazole and posaconazole (50% and 75% respectively). Aspergillus was found to be the predominant fungal pathogen isolated from patients with pulmonary diseases, notably from patients with COPD and pulmonary TB.